The Collinsport Chronicles L: The Sorcerer Hunt
by Maryland Rose
Summary: Amy, from her labyrinth hunts for the hidden sorcerer that threatens Collinsport - but it will be Barnabas who might pay the highest price.
1. Chapter 1

THE SORCERER HUNT

Chapter 1

"How can you be so calm when Edmund is gone and we do not know where he is?" Roger accused Carolyn. "Don't you care at all?"

"I know where he is. He is in a quest. I talked to the one who gave it to him and she gave me assurances that he is all right."

'Who did you talk to? And when?"

"It was in my dreams."

'Dreams? And you call me crazy!"

"There was a letter from Vicky, just as she promised."

"What has a letter from Vicky has to do with it?"

"It was a prophecy come true."

"I think that you never cared for him. Sure I am crazy, I am not? But I know that you got him to get back at Barnabas. Now that you are friends again, and you have Adam, what do you care?"

'You do not understand, Uncle. You do not know what is happening!"

'And Adam too is glad that Edmund is gone. No one cares about him. No one but me!"

Carolyn sighed, not willing to admit that Roger might have a point. Not much of one, but some... She _had_ gotten Edmund as part of her battles with Barnabas and now... now, did she really think of Edmund as her son?

There were so many flaws in her character, and she was slowly learning of them. What Vicky told in her letter, while guarded, spoke of the childish, pettily cruel, spoiled young woman she had been.. Vicky was working hard on forgiving her... and she had to make herself deserve it...

"Uncle, you will see when he comes back Because Edmund will come back and explain."

* * *

Did she know where she was going? Frances now doubted it. She was following the same winding corridor with no end in sight. It was almost hopeless.

But she would not give up. It had seemed equally hopeless when she had gone look for Barnabas, not even knowing who she was seeking. Then too fear had hounded her.

She had to trust Amy's words. She had to trust the cards. If she was ever going to retune home, to Howard...

Did she want to return to Howard? Was he totally innocent of Roxanne's attempt on her? Even under the influence of magic, still there had been wishes in both of them, wishes brought forward..

She had refused to see it. She had to pretend that he marriage to Howard was OK... She had refused to hear George's warning. She had refused to listen to Derek's concerns..

Poor Derek. Such a nice man, stuck with that murderous Roxanne... He deserved better.

She deserved better than Howard...

* * *

"You are back." Amy said to Edmund.

"Yes. We did what you asked us to do. Are we sure that we can do nothing for Dr. Blair? I saw him and...

"I know. It is hurtful to see him as he is. You want to help him and so do I. We will help him. But not yet. If we try now, we will fail, and Blair will know what we are planning. We need to drain Blair's power before he move."

"But we will release Dr. Blair, will we?"

"Yes. We will."

Edmund looked at her with mistrusts.

"I do not promise what I do not intend to deliver." Amy said. "I am the Sybil. I predict the future, and should it not come true, then I should not be the Sybil, and all my power will leave me. I predict that either Dr. Blair will be set free or that I will lose everything, including my life. I do not intend to lose."

"I do not doubt you. It is just..."

"I know. You like him a lot. You care for him. And to see him reduced to that stage is more than you can bear. Yet you must bear it a little longer. He must bear it a little longer. All you can do is wait, and gather Nicholas' power into yourself."

"I will have his power, won't I?"

"Yes. All of it."

"I will be able to do what I want?"

Amy was alarmed at this. The seduction of power was taking hold of Edmund,..

"Be careful Edmund. You can do what you want, but you must know what is wise. Too many wizards were destroyed for not knowing it."

Edmund made a face. He did not like to think about that. Always some grown up telling you can you can or cannot do... what point was having power if they did not stop lecturing you?

"It is for your protection, Edmund. Power is like fire. You control it, and it serves you well. You get careless with it, and it consumes you. It can kill you. You must learn to control, and to control yourself."

"I guess so." Edmund said, but did not sound convinced.

"Ah, Edmund. You still think like a child, who thinks that when he is told _no_ it is because of our caprice. But no, Edmund. You should learn to control yourself around power for the same reason that you should look both ways before crossing the street."

"I guess so." Edmund was still surly.

Amy sighed.

"Just remember. if you do not choose well, Dr. Blair will be doomed. You do not want that, do you?"

* * *

Barnabas still heard Petofi's laughter as he advanced... He imagined that it would be his constant companion...

Petofi must be afraid of him, and was seeking to weaken his resolve. It was important to him even as a severed head that he lose...

Because it touched his family's power? Because Vassily was one of the returning warlocks?

In any case, he had to go on..

Strange that he felt no hunger as he walked the corridors. Nor need to rest...

The rules here were probably different than the world outside...

* * *

"Why?" Angelique insisted to Megan "Why must I give her up? Why must I live by what you say?"

"Because you got into more trouble that you can handle, and I am doing my best to keep you and Julia in one piece."

"I do not want to."

Megan sighed. "Yes. You do not want to. And unfortunately your trouble was that for too long you did not have to accept limits. What for, since you had your powers? So you went ahead, cast spells, and when you crashed with reality, you used more spells, and crashed again, and used more spells, and that's how you ended up as Nicholas' slave."

"You do not understand."

"I understand. I told you what the ronin were, and how they were. That was a limit that you had to respect. Barnabas never got the message, because... well, because he is Barnabas. But you should have recognized it. And told Amy that you would not go along with it. That Barnabas should not go along with it. If she was so bent on having Hallie as a vampire, she should have done what you did, summon a bat. Not get a ronin in trouble with the others. And you two would have left immediately. Well, now Barnabas is under Amy's protection, and might never come back. And Verhoff is looking for an excuse to kill Julia."

"Why?"

"Why, you ask? Because she destroyed the very cozy situation he had. Verhoff is a pedophile. Was before he became a vampire. He kept it under control by taking as lovers vampire children who would never grow up, and who were mentally adults, even if their bodies were childish. But Julia took that away. Now the children have the way of growing into adult bodies, and Verhoff would not have so many available bed partners... He is scared that one day he may slip and attack a child, and turn him or her into a vampire... and then be subject to the penalties for it... He hates Julia for it, and if he can have his revenge on her, he will."

"So...:"

"So, that's a nice hornet's nest that you kicked... Look if you want to do something useful, try to come up with some cure for Verhoff, make her able to enjoy sex with grown women, and maybe he'll leave Julia alone. And may even cut Barnabas some slack. Give him a prison sentence, instead of death."

"And this has to do with Georgina?"

"Yes. Because I do not want her to be raised in the same house as a vampire. And I told you why."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Howard watched the children go through their exercises.

How could Derek make it sounds so ugly? He taught the children proper hygiene, better ways of doing things, gave them discipline, made them thing about authority in a better way that they parents did. Why did Derek call it indoctrination? And since Brant already thought the worst of him...

Of course, the children worshipped him. After all, he showed them a whole new world, gave them confidence, spoke to them as adults. Only someone with a twisted mind could see a sinister purpose in what he was doing.

So what if some exercises had a military bent? It was the best way that he knew how to teach. That did not mean that he was turning them into a private army.

If Derek carried the day, he would undo all this. He would sacrifice all the wonderful things he had done here just to satisfy some scruple of his... Scruples, him, a con man!..

That's why he could not be allowed to win. He should not be allowed to destroy what he had labored so hard to build. He, Roxanne, and... Frances...

Roxanne had not killed Frances. Derek had, and famed Roxanne for it. Brant was in on it. Maybe it was his whole idea from the beginning. As for Patterson... Patterson could be made to believe anything...

He closed his fists. The trap was closing fast around him. He had lost Frances. Roxanne was equally lost, in Patterson's jail. Soon Brant and Derek would move in for the kill...

He knew the scenario. He had played it more than once...

But they would find that he was not easy to kill...

So they accused him of having the children as his own private army? Well, he was going to do exactly that. He and the children would fight.

* * *

"I can't believe that Roxanne would do what you accuse her of doing." Nicholas said heatedly to Patterson.

Patterson only shrugged "Don't believe it then. But I have seen it coming, and now it happened."

"And you still won't let me see her?"

He had to see her. He was beginning to have doubts as to what had happened, and if Frances was dead, where was her body, and if not., where was she?

It might be that there was some joker in the pack, and he intended to find out.

* * *

"Edmund, it is going to start. Nicholas is going to tap into Doctor Blair's mind to know what to ask Roxanne without arousing suspicion. Use it to drain Nicholas of power. when he does that."

And use it to influence Nicholas' mind as to what he learned. But that was for her. All Edmund had to do was to gather the power into himself.

* * *

Derek braced himself. It would come now. Howard would not let the matter rest. He wanted Roxanne now that Frances was out of the way and the only ones who kept him from having her were the two Georges, Patterson, and Brant. Two lives...

As if Howard did not know how to remove such obstacles...

Unless he removed Howard first.

It was killing...

So had it been with Sebastian Shaw, and he had been praised for it. Why should it be different?

He had a gun. He had bullets... all he needed was a chance.

"Are you thinking about killing Howard?" George Brant asked him.

"It is him or us."

"We are being played Derek. I can sense Vassily in this. He'd love it if we killed each other."

"But..."

"You have a gun, don't you?"

"To defend myself."

"Well, I cannot take it from you. You may need it. But you and I are going to be inseparable now. I do not want you starting the explosion. Patterson will keep watch on Roxanne."

"And who will keep watch on Howard?"

"Well, Howard can only move in one direction, towards us. We can wait until he moves and then subdue him."

"Howard is a cold blooded killer. Same as Roxanne."

"Roxanne is your wife."

"I must have been blind to marry her. How could she kill Frances? Frances was... well,.. she was sweet, and brave, and loyal... Howard did not deserve her."

* * *

Patterson fell under his power easily enough. He would not have dared to do it if Brant had been around, but Patterson was alone, and did not know Nicholas as well as Brant. With him he did not have to pretend. Now he could interrogate Roxanne.

He tapped into Dr. Blair's mind for it. He needed it not just to maintain his impersonation, but for information on Roxanne. information that he could put to use.

He just needed to know what had actually happened to Frances...

* * *

"Yes, it is starting" Amy noted. "Be ready to drain, Edmund. And we will fill Nicholas' mind with despair, and the conviction that he's got all the information out of Roxanne."

* * *

Nicholas concentrated on his captive. Let his mind flow into his own. Let all he knew come to him.

He felt it come, and with it the emotions. Despair, painful despair... No way out... Just trapped, forever... Useless to fight, useless..

He felt the despair come into him, shaking him. He tried to shield himself, but the knowledge he sought was too tied up in that pain and despair.

He had to make himself ignore it. Even thought the pain weakened him. Or rather make him unwilling to use his power, since it was all hopeless...

He faced Roxanne, who seemed surprised that he had gotten in, in spite of Patterson.

"I know you did not do it, Roxanne. This is not you."

"Ah, Nicky, you do know me. You know what I am capable of." Roxanne spoke with irony. "That's why I left, not because there was no room for a vampire, but because there was no room for a blood simple killer."

"But you are not really."

"Nicky...Nicky, you know that the war changed us all."

"If you killed her, where is her body?"

"Down a very deep ravine. And from there into another dimension. Vassily and Nastassia never meant the egg to be a closed system. There are interchanges with other dimensions, and the interchange points are at the bottom of certain ravines. We dump all garbage there, the other dimensions finds it valuable, and then dump their garbage of us, which is basically raw materials for us... So Frances is in another dimension, probably being rendered for her fat. And being chopped up into steaks..."

It was all true. And had she succeeded in killing Frances, she would have done exactly that... The best lies are always based on truth...

Nicholas wondered. He had to find out if that was true. There was so much about the egg that he did not know...But it sounded possible enough... In fact setting up a perfect self contained system was always a lot more difficult than an open one. so it was very likely that the egg had such inter-dimensional trade.

He left the jail. He would have to question Howard later on, to find confirmation. But he suspected that Howard would tell him the same thing.

If only being in contact with Dr. Blair's mind did not leave him so tired, so drained...

Despair will do it for you...

He better leave Dr. Blair alone for a while, until he rebuilt his strength.

* * *

"Well, it is done." Amy said to Edmund. "Do you feel his power come into you?"

"Yes... I feel so... so strange."

"Just don't let the power go into your head."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sabrina fumed. Another trip to Collinsport. Hadn't Maggie learned anything from her past experience? Couldn't she leave Barnabas alone once and for all? Being turned into stone wasn't enough for her?

She had argued, cajoled, tried to make a joke of it, gotten angry, and nothing. Maggie had to see Barnabas. And if Sabrina wasn't happy, she was free to seek employment somewhere else.

Maybe she should do that. Maybe she should get herself another job. Better for her nerves. And with her experience and contacts she could have another, better job, tomorrow.

But some stubborn part of her wanted to see how this next catastrophe would play out.

* * *

Barnabas stopped as the figure approached him. He crouched, wondering it would be friend or foe. Or some trick of Petofi's..

It was the ghost of Roxanne.

"I guess we are paired for this." she said curtly to him.

"Roxanne, I never told you how sorry I was."

"You don't have to say it now. Anyway, you say it to make yourself feel better. To me it makes no difference."

Barnabas was a bit disconcerted by her brusqueness. He somewhat wished that the two of them reconciled, but also knew that it was not possible. Not yet.

"Where is Sebastian?"

"Where he must be. And it is not for you to question it."

"I did not mean.."

"I know what you meant. I have forgiven you for your part in my fate, but there is little in common between us. Nothing except this task on hand."

"Did Amy tell you what we must do? She told me very little."

"Only that we would know what it is when we came upon it. Until then, we must not know, so that we may not betray unwittingly."

'What has she given Edmund to do?"

"What his task is. We are not to question, but obey."

They kept going in silence.

"Andreas Petofi tried to scare me off." Barnabas said. "maybe he knows where we are heading and wants to stop us"

"That might well bell."

"This mission might mean something to him."

"Or just loves making trouble for you."

"Maybe, but still, I have the feeling that it involves him somehow."

"It may involve Vassily."

"Yes. Returning warlocks. Nicolas was one. Vassily another... and then who knows?"

They had reached the end of the corridor. A dark wall rose against them.

"Here it is" Roxanne said "the end of the road."

The wall looked solid and impenetrable, but when Barnabas put his hand on it, his hand went through as if it was only mist.

"We have to go to the other side" Roxanne said.

There was an open field at the other side of the wall. And the ruins of an old castle rising in the night.

"The ancestral castle of the Petofs" Barnabas said, with awe. "Andreas knew that we were coming here and wanted to stop us."

"Better dematerialize" Roxanne said, a bit harshly. "We are on the other side of the Iron Curtain, and the authorities think the worst of strangers moving about in the middle of the night."

Barnabas obeyed without complaint. He remembered Parallel Time well enough...

They approached the castle. "I guess that we have to find the secret of the Petofis' power and destroy it." Roxanne said..

Once inside the ruins Barnabas rematerialized again. As they walked in the darkness, they sensed a secret door hidden behind a pile of rocks... Or rather, the pile of rocks was a secret door...

They went down a staircase, a staircase that they knew no one had found in centuries.

"This place is very old." Roxanne said "much older than the castle itself."

"The Petofis are an old magical family. I suspect that they started before the time when power was passed from father to son."

"How was it passed, then?"

"From master to slave. If the slave showed promise, the master or mistress would teach the craft. Unsatisfactory slaves were killed. Satisfactory slaves ended up killing their teacher. and becoming the next magician."

"Quite nasty."

"Yes. Brutal. And a good way to keep the knowledge among the select few. No slave could give away the knowledge... You could teach all the disciples you wanted, and you were sure of their discretion. When you tired of them, you killed them, and got a replacement..."

"And the Petofis came from that time?"

'Yes, and given that the family tends to have members with the skill and power, it might well be that it was the Petofi ancestor that changed the rules, and started instructing his children instead of slaves. Children who were grateful to their father and did not try to kill him."

"No more butchering the failures.."

"That might have been the beginning of the end. Because there was now the possibility of incompetent people with he power, and secrets being spread out...The old magicians were brutal, but they knew where they were doing... They used to enslave vampires and use them as enforcers against the populations the magicians controlled."

"Nasty, as I said."

The staircase went down and down. They had made it deep, Either the labor of slaves who were then killed so that they could not betray the entrance, or more simply by the sheer power of magic. There were corridors crossing the stairs, and what looked like sealed entrances. The stairs went up and down, turned into a helix, and then bifurcated.

They had been built to baffle whoever entered there unauthorized, leading any intruders to false exits, more bifurcations, and at last, death by exhaustion.

But they found that their way could not be mistaken for any other. At each fork of the road they did not hesitate, they knew which way they should turn, and they turned.

"Seems almost too easy." Barnabas said.

"It is not easy. It is only Amy who makes it so for us. If we did not have her to guide us, we'd spend centuries roaming these halls before we found what we seek. No, the Petofis protected their source of power well, and we must be ready for worse when we find it.

One sealed door was at the bottom of the stairs. In appearance nothing distinguished it from any other sealed door, but this was the door they must go thought.

At the other side of the door was a room. In the room was a table. And on the table, a severed human head.

"This is the source of the power of the Petofis" Barnabas said with awe. "The head of the magician to whom the first Petofi was a slave."

"Very good, vampire." the head said, opening its eyes. "But that knowledge will help you little."

"You are alive!"

"Of course I am alive, vampire. The Petofis would have no power left if I died I keep it focused for them... Petofi, that was the lad who led to the downfall of us sorcerers. Him and his wrong ways. A comely lad, and a delightful one to bed, but I should have drowned him in a sack as I did all the others, for he was not worthy of being a sorcerer. What he did was worse than divulge our secrets to our serfs. No, he brought all his children to be full sorcerers, even the unworthy, and would not slaughter the failures. He allowed weakness to come into our ranks. We became soft, we became swayed by pity. Pity! What need has a powerful one for pity? Pity is an invention of the weak to keep the strong from dealing with them as they deserve. Pity!... Yes, the lad did believe in pity. He pleaded with me to have pity on him, when I punished him. But he had to know his place. Pity I had none. He had to prove his worth to me. He had to force me to grant him respect.. Pity! What good is pity to anyone? If he believe in pity, why does he torment me thus, never allowing me to die? Why does no one stop my torment?"

"Had you been merciful to you, he'd been merciful to you."

"Pshaw! You are one of the weak ones. Your kind can't prevail against mine!"

"Yet it is your head that lies on this table."

"I will have my revenge yet."

"And we will be the ones to help you." Roxanne said, cutting short the argument that Barnabas was quite willing to continue. "We too seek revenge on them. We may help one another."

The head was silent, as if considering this.

"I accept" he said at last. "What do you seek?"

"The end of the power of the Petofis."

"Then you must take me away from here, and allow me to die. While I live, the Petofis remain strong."

Barnabas stepped closer to the table.

"Stop!" the head said. "Do you think that it will be easy? Look around you, vampire. There are guardians about."

It was then that they saw the small blue bottles surrounding the table.

"These are the ones who have tried before you and failed.. They are now the guardians. Come any closer, and they will capture you and stuff you into a bottle yourself."

"What if she broke the bottles?"

"Then they would be free. But before you break them, think of this. Those who came before were not worshippers of pity as you are. They would have dealt with Petofi as harshly as he dealt with me. Some could lay the land bare once they got hold of the power I represent. You do not wish for them to gain possession of me."

"And you don't want it either?"

"No, because you are the only one who will allow me to die. I need you, weak as you are, and thus I will protect you, even if I despise you."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Barnabas is gone? Just like that?" Maggie paced in the library of the Old House, unwilling to let Urien calm her. "How could it happen?"

"Edmund vanished first. He went looking for him." Urien had called Julia on the phone, hoping that she could calm Maggie down, as he was unable to do so. He had been given reassurances, but he knew that he could not make himself heard by the very agitated Maggie.

"You don't even know when he will be back?"

"He just stepped into the I Ch'ing maze. So it is difficult to tell. I understand that time moves differently there."

"And you stay there so calmly."

Urien shrugged. "I have got the habitude of weird things happening. And somehow things manage to end up OK. If they need me, they will let me know. As it is" he shrugged" all I can do is keep to a normal routine."

"Or you just don't care."

Urien sighed "You've been too long away from town. You forget how things are here."

The arrival of Julia interrupted the exchange. Urien left gratefully, as Maggie's intensity disconcerted him. Why would she want to come back? Last time she had been turned to stone. Why risk any more incidents here?

"Well, Julia, what can you tell me where Barnabas is?"

"He was summoned by Amy Jennings, who is now a Sybil. He is in some mission, and he is supposed to be alone there."

"And you left him all alone?"

"I was warned not to follow. I take such warnings seriously. Why are you back? Do you think that he needs more punishment? Because I would think that he has paid in full by now."

"I have been thinking... I know that I cannot deal with him as I have all these years... I kept wondering if we could ever be friends..."

"Maggie, with your history, the safest way for you two to be friends would be over the phone. If you asked me my professional opinion."

"I would never ask you your professional opinion. No offense, Julia, but I could never fully trust you.."

"I guess I deserve that."

"Julia, that I am big enough to forgive you does not mean that I am fool enough to trust you again. You betrayed a patient once - me. You can do it again. That is a fact that neither of us can change."

"Then, if you do not want my opinion, all I can tell you is that Barnabas is gone, and that I do not know when he will come back, and you will have to start managing your life without him and your twisted relationship. How I will not presume to tell you."

"I just wanted to tell him that I did not hate him anymore."

"I think that he will be glad to know it. When and if he comes back."

"And you do not know when that will be."

"No. And badgering Urien will not help, so why don't you leave here and do whatever else you have planned for your stay?"

* * *

Sabrina was impossible. Quentin wondered how Chris could have loved her once... At one time she must have been a nice person enough, he guessed, but she had soured out. First bitterness at what she saw as Chris' betrayal, when he had got a vasectomy without telling her, and then too many years of doing Maggie's dirty work.

And now... Now when he had wanted to see Maggie she had submitted to a full third degree interrogation, as if he was a member of the PLO instead of a constituent. a taxpayer, and a person who had a project to offer.

Of course, his own irresponsible past told against him... but still, in the past years he had shown them what Quentin Collins, once grown up was capable of doing. The housing he was building was getting off the ground, (with feeding privileges for Megan, who helped with the financing). He was someone that Maggie should be glad to meet.

"I can recall what happened the last time you two met." Sabrina said, coldly.

"When we last met, I was minding my own business, with Barnabas, taking care of a friend. It was she who barged in, tried to seduce me, and then brained me. I do not see how that was my fault."

Her eyes told him that she still saw him as the spoiled child he had been, as Louella's seducer, Carolyn's husband, the short-lived evangelist, the one man VD epidemic, the habitual betrayer, the feckless one... Never the serious, thoughtful person he had become...

But he had to try. And if he could not approach Maggie one way, there could be others...

* * *

Nicholas felt tired, unbelievably tired. He thought that by now he would have recovered from being in touch with Dr. Blair's despair, but it had affected him more than he thought.

Because he was his counterpart? Because he could not hurt the man without, somehow hurting himself?

Or maybe because his new master did not fully trust him with his power, that he only gave him so much, and once he used up a considerable amount, he had to rebuild it?

Why would the man do that? Didn't he know that he would be more effective if he was more powerful?

Well, considering the amount of double dealing and betrayal among sorcerers, it did not surprise him. He was to be kept on a short leash.

And rewarded at the end? Or disposed of? Betrayal was second nature to sorcerers such as he...

"He does not suspect us." Amy said to Edmund "Instruct Dr. Blair to make him doubt his master even more."

* * *

It was ironic, Barnabas thought, that after the innumerable years that he had cringed in fear of the cross, that he would now use one to protect himself.

But the situation was not one to savor ironies. Those guardians responded to the cross as he had once. Why the Petofis had chosen that symbol to control them was a mystery, but they might have had their reasons. Now he would make use of it.

He had to set the creatures on the bottles free, but prevent them from getting the head. Once without the head, they would die, and there would be no more power to them.

But if he did not do it right, then he would have unleashed an ancient evil on the world. As great or greater than what he tried to prevent

"I shall set them free and hold them at bay." he said to Roxanne. "You just grab the head and take it to Amy."

The head stared at them with both malice and forlorn hope. They were, those two, his only chance to rest, to die and escape his centuries old servitude. But he despised them and what they stood for. Had he been able to hold a whip, had he a hand to hold a whip, he would show them indeed that ghosts only came when summoned, and that vampires were meant to be slaves, and nothing else.

Still... he remembered the prophecy that the first Petofi had made when he had set him on the table to serve him and his progeny. That he would remain there until a creature of darkness holding in his hands a symbol of the power of Light would be the one to end his torment? Petofi had laughed, because what creature of darkness could abide the power of the Light? Might well ask water to run uphill...

Except that with sorcerers anything is possible given enough time and power... and now his deliverance was at hand. From one who should have been a slave and never presume to look upon his face.

Barnabas, moving closer to the bottles brought the wizard back from his reverie.

"Ready?" he asked Roxanne.

"Yes. I am ready,"

He swung his cane in a lethal arc, shattering all the bottles with one blow.

A cold gush of air hit him, and blue-grey smoke rose from the ground. Smoke that molded itself into shapes, which converged greedily over the severed head.

Barnabas swung the cross in their direction, wondering if it would hold them at bay long enough... they had been men, once, all of them, yet their shapes were now the stuff of nightmares...

The smoke parted as he swung his arm. The creatures balked a bit, leaving just enough space for Roxanne to enter.

She was so slight, so ethereal, enveloped in a light that seemed to be a white garment. It shielded her somehow from the smoke. Her hands moved through the head, and then acquired solidity.

"I have it" she said, lifting it.

A howl rose from the smoke creatures, who now found themselves cheated of their prize, and facing dissolution.

They threw themselves at Roxanne, but Barnabas barred them again. Roxanne clutched the head to her bosom, and vanished with it.

The smoke creatures then fell on Barnabas...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Amy accepted the head grimly. She knew that the price for it had been to abandon Barnabas to his fate. She could not rebuke Roxanne for it. All that mattered was that the power of the Petofis was broken, and Barnabas' life had been forfeit from the start.

But still, such a price... could the head not have been obtained any other way?

No, it could not. She had to have the head. And the smoke creatures would have a sacrificial victim...

* * *

Maggie strolled the streets, trying to look as if she was enjoying herself, without betraying the turmoil she felt.

It was not only Barnabas not being there. It was not knowing what she wanted of him. In the old days, she knew what she wanted from him, or at least she thought he knew. She had promised to herself to stop playing those games, since they did not led anywhere but disaster - as Sabrina reminded her. But without those games, she had too much empty time to fill...

She was finding Sabrina more and more irritating each day. Yes, she was useful. But she was also harsh, cynical, and quite brutal... And she did not want more of that...

If she was going to turn over a new leaf, she might let Sabrina go.

But what would she do without her obsession with Barnabas?

True, he had done her great harm, once. She carried the scars within herself. But he had also given her a way out of the dead end minimum wage jobs that Pop had doomed her to.. He had given her power. He had allowed her to reach peaks that she had never dreamed of...

How can you hate someone who gives you your heart's desire?

True, he missed Pop. And she had nostalgia for those days with Joe. But she liked her power and position too much...

And to thrown it away because she could not keep from worrying the old wound...

Julia had done her a favor in suppressing her memory. It had allowed her to learn, experience, become stronger, until she could confront it and not be destroyed. True, Julia had not been thinking of her, Maggie's good, when she did it. But the result was what counted. If she was Representative Margaret Evans it was because Julia had taken away the painful memories...

It was not hard to forgive her now, and even like her... Of course, that did not mean that she ever trusted her again...

"Representative Evans"" a voice next to her said. "You are Representative Evans, aren't you?"

She turned. "Yes. I am. And you are.."

"Elsa Quarles, the daughter of the hotelkeepers here. And I do have questions about certain problems I know that we are having here, and that no one seems to notice."

'You do?" Elsa was no longer a child, but was reaching the age when she could vote. And outgoing and sharp as she was, she could sway several others... Someone with that much enthusiasm should be among her supporters.

"Why don't we go to the cafe and you tell me all about it?

* * *

"You did well" Amy said wearily to Roxanne. "You got what you were sent to get. Even if it meant abandoning Barnabas."

"I could not help him. I had to get the head to you."

"Barnabas knew that he was walking to his doom when he started... I cannot fault you, Roxanne. You did exactly what I asked you to."

"But still you resent me."

Amy shrugged. "What I feel towards you makes no difference in the choices I make. You had a part to play, and you did... To ask more is senseless. Go now."

Roxanne vanished and Amy was left alone with the head.

"We promised you rest, and you shall have it." Amy said to it. "I predict that you shall be allowed to rest soon. I am a Sybil, and I do not make false predictions.. But first you must serve us. You must do one more service before you are free."

The head glared at her. "Why do you lie to me? You know that I am powerless, that I am your slave. You can force me to serve you. But first you must show me your strength."

Amy did not have the desire to argue with the severed head. She just yanked it up by the hair and banged it against the table. The head howled in pain.

"This is my strength, that I can inflict this pain on you. Do you understand it?"

"I understand." the head was subdued now, having been dealt with in its own terms.

"Now let the distance that separates us from Barnabas Collins be reduce to nothing. Let him just be behind that wall." she pointed to it. "let the wall become mist and clean air."

* * *

Elsa had grown into a personable young woman, Quentin noted. He had stopped paying attention to her, and suddenly she was not a kid anymore.

He worried about his approaching her. Everyone knew that as a kid she had had a crush on Barnabas. Later that childish crush had led her to become prey of Burke Devlin's machinations.. She had recovered from that, But if he, Quentin, approached her, would that crush move to him?

Maybe, but Elsa was no longer a child. She had grown wiser since her experience with Devlin. And _he_ had grown wiser.

And Elsa had managed to get Maggie's ears. Would it be too much to ask her to put in a good word for him with her?

He took a deep breath... In a way, things were easier when he did not have so many scruples...

* * *

Barnabas could not move, after the creatures were done with him. He was aware of pain, and then of the absence of pain. He knew that they at last were gone, dissolved as smoke does, when they no longer had bottles to return to.

They had danced long on his body, burning it as they moved through it. cutting without knives, breaking, slicing through him..

He had felt great pain then, but then there was a break, and he did not feel pain any more...

And he could not move either...

Then he saw Amy come towards him, and wished he could get up to meet her, but he could not.

* * *

The children in Howard's class sat around, discussing hat they understood of the latest events.

"We know that Roxanne did not kill Frances." one of them said, their closeness to Howard making him believe that they could talk of his friends and relatives by their first names.

"Right. She was framed. Sheriff Patterson is a fool who can be led by the nose. This is all Derek's doing. And George Brant's. Remember that Derek wanted to shut us down?"

"And now he will. He will manage to use this as an excuse."

"We ought to stop him."

"But how? We are only kids."

"Not 'only kids'. We know how to use weapons, don't we? Are we going to be like our parents, taking with a smile whatever the Petofis gave them? Or are we going to fight for what is ours? Are we going to let Howard be destroyed after all he's done for us?

* * *

Frances was not surprised when Edmund appeared next to her. She would not be alone when the moment to unmask the third warlock would come.

The wall that rose in front of them looked large and dark, but they knew that it would open when the time came for it.

"This is the way" Edmund said, a bit needlessly.

"Yes, it is."

"I hope that the power I have is enough. Nicholas is not a very powerful warlock. That is what Amy said."

"You will have to be cautious, which is always good." Frances could not resist the urge to lecture Edmund a bit.

Edmund ran his hands over the seemingly impenetrable wall, then gestured a bit.

Slowly a pinpoint of light appeared on the wall. And it stretched. It grew until it became a long tunnel leading to a well-lighted street.

"Home! It is home!" Frances said.

Indeed, it was the main street of Collinsport.

"We can go." Edmund said.

"No." Frances stopped him. "We are not to go out. We are to watch and wait. Something is about to happen here."

A human figure could be seen in the street.

"It is Elsa." Edmund said, surprised.

"Yes It is her. She is the secret fifth."

"Why her? How does she figure in this?"

"I think that we will find soon enough."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Maggie had enjoyed talking with Elsa. The kid was bright. She had read quite a bit about seafood farming, and while it could not work for lobsters, it could for shrimp and clams and oysters... She then had concerns about pollution, of course, since it threatened that seafood.

He asked her if she had been to the environmental center, she said yes, but that they treated her like a kid. Well, a couple of years would take care of that. In the meantime, she could talk to Urien who had done volunteer work there, and maybe do the same herself. And she would give Elsa whatever information she needed, and would look with interest on anything else she had to say.

It did not surprise her when she came back, but it took her a bit aback when she mentioned that Quentin Collins wanted to talk to her, about low cost housing.

So Quentin wanted to talk about that? Maybe it was true that he had grown up at last, as he claimed... She would like to see that. And then she owed him an apology for braining him when she released Adam... and the trouble started...

"Yes, tell him that I want to see him."

* * *

"Amy, what happened to me?" Barnabas asked, sure that the worst had happened.

Amy could not hide it. She had allowed this to happen. She could not spare herself now.

"Your neck is broken. You are paralyzed from the neck down... And, and it was a magical injury. You cannot heal those."

"So, this is it."

"There is a way to fix it, but only if you remain in the labyrinth. Once outside there will be no cure... It is the same with my eyes. While they are not restored, while I am here, I have other ways of seeing. Outside the labyrinth I am blind... And you... You could never go back to Collinsport."

"Considering that I am under a death sentence there... But I guess this is part of how I am going to die."

"Yes. It is happening."

"You said that you could fix it here?"

"Yes. I can put a silver needle in your neck, to restore the nerve link...It will work.."

"And I can keep on doing what you need?"

"Yes."

"So I am going to die fighting for those I love... It is not a bad way to go, Amy."

"I am sorry, Barnabas, really sorry."

"Yes. But you are Sybil. You have much more to worry about than the fate of a particular individual, even if that individual is me."

"Please..."

"I have been to war. I know the logic of sacrificing someone in the pursuit of your goals... I know the explanations and excuses, which are not always that good..."

Amy nodded. They could talk about it for a while, but all that mattered had been said. She took the silver needle and pushed it into Barnabas' neck, connecting the vertebrae there.

* * *

"Why Elsa?" Edmund asked with surprise. "Why should she be involved in this?"

"Why should you?"

"Because I have a connection with Dr. Blair."

"And Elsa may have a connection too. She hung around Barnabas for quite a while. She was once bitten by Liz. And she was involved with Burke Devlin."

"Still..."

"Don't try to second-guess the answer. It will come to us soon enough."

"It think that I..." Edmund stepped into the tunnel and began to walk towards Elsa. "Maybe I can get the answer from her. Maybe I can get into her mind."

Frances' arm caught him.

"You won't go anywhere. You just sit here and wait."

"But this way, it will go faster, and we'll be ready and..."

Frances dragged him forcibly and pulled him back.

"Let me go!"

"You can't!"

"Let me go, or I'll use my powers on you."

Frances pulled him back, then unceremoniously sat down, put him on her knees and spanked him.

Angrily, Edmund threw the power at her, but she seemed unaffected.. She hit him a couple more times then let him go.

"If you want to behave like a brat, you will be treated like a brat." she said. "Don't worry using your power. Amy foresaw that it might go to your head, and made me immune to it."

"But..."

"You were going to do a very dangerous and unnecessary thing. Just because you have Nicholas' power does not mean that you cannot be killed."

"But..."

"You think that Amy could not come up with he same idea that you did? Why did she caution me not to let you do something like this? Why did she warn you about being cautious? She knew what might happen. Do you want me to explain what is it what we are supposed to do?"

Edmund nodded, sore.

"We are waiting here for someone who is hidden. We want to see his true face. For this, we must not show ours. As long as we stay here, in this side, he does not know that we are here. But if you were to step out, he'd know, and be warned. Remember, we do not much about him, much less what he is plotting. We just have to sit and wait, boring as it might be."

* * *

George cleaned his gun. The storm was coming and there was nothing that he could do to prevent it. He just hoped that he could delay it long enough for Angelique to wonder why she had not heard from him and investigate herself..

He was not sure if he would survive, but he meant to put up a good fight.

It need not have happened this way.

Where had he made a mistake? Was there anything that he or Derek, or Howard or Roxanne, or even Frances might have done that would have avoided this?

He did not hate Howard, nor Roxanne. They had learned too much of the wrong lessons and they applied them...

"I need to talk to you."

He lifted his yes. It was Yegor, a young man wearing the uniform of the Youth group that Howard had created... with the best intentions, of course...

And it made him shiver.

"I demand that Mrs. Pearce be released."

"She will be tried, and if found innocent she will be released."

"But you'll make sure that she won't be found innocent... You'll tug at people's heartstring with Frances, and how they all loved her..."

"Frances Nelson is missing, and presumed dead. There are plenty of ways to get rid of a body with no trace, as I found out. And we have reasons to believe that we have her killer. If you can offer evidence that it is not so, talk to her lawyer."

"You don't care about the killing at all! All you want to do is hurt the commander! You want to take him away from us!"

George shook his head. "What I think of the commander, and what I think he is doing to you kids in his Youth program, has nothing to do with Mrs. Pearce's being in jail. And you seem very little concerned that your commander's wife was murdered. Did you care so little for her? She did a lot of good for all of you, and you seem to have forgotten it."

The boy blushed and George knew that he had scored a hit. Howard's popularity did not extend to his wife among the youth group. How about Roxanne? She as a teacher, cooperated with Howard in this...

"You are trying to confuse me. You killed her yourself and framed Roxanne so that you could destroy the commander."

"It is not true, child."

"Don't call me a child! I am man. A man who knows how to fight, and I am not alone."

* * *

"The fifth is Elsa Quarles" Amy told Barnabas, who was up again, and walking. "What does that tell you?"

"Elsa?" His mind digested the fact "This means that the hidden warlock is Burke Devlin... She was his follower, his slave... He must want to regain control of her... But Devlin is dead."

"And since when that has stopped a warlock?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Burke Devlin" Amy said to herself, her fingers touching the Magician card. Then her mind was flooded with images of the man as others had known him.

Burke was only lately a warlock, but just as he, having been born poor, had managed to make a fortune as great or greater than the Collinses, so he, a late coming warlock, had accumulated more power than Nicholas... Enough to return from death, seeking revenge.

Elsa was important to him. Not as a lover, as Vicky had, but as a source of power, given their past connection.

Devlin should not be allowed to put his hands on Elsa again... And for that she was willing to bring Elsa into the labyrinth and use her as a trap for Devlin.

Or, if all else failed, kill her.

It was imperative that Burke did not get hold of Elsa, for if he did, there would be no stopping him. She would save Elsa, if he could. But first and foremost, she would stop Devlin,.

She saw Barnabas by her side, and decided that it was better that he did not know of her decision.

"You may be needed by Frances and Edmund. They will be trying to bring Elsa in. They can use your strength."

Did he guess? She hoped not. She did not want to start an argument with him, given how fond he was of the girl...

She saw him go and turned to the severed head.

"Maybe that is the difference between you and I," she said to it "We may do the same things, when there is no other choice, but I don't glory in it, and seek to avoid it, if I can."

A weak chuckle came from the dying lips " You'll get used to it. You'll get used to the power and love using it. And one day you will think back of what you said today, and call yourself a fool."

"It is not that!"

"It is that way. It has always been that way. Your are not weak. You are one of the strong ones. Accept your heritage! Restore our line! Train not the children of your body, whom you can't kill if they are weak in the craft, but take a slave to instruct. We had a glorious reign, and you can bring it back again!"

"Your time is gone, and you are dying. You are the last one to remember that time. When you die, it will be gone."

"It will come back. I may die and be forgotten, but it will be back."

* * *

"He said that?" Howard was shocked, or at least appeared to be. "Did he really say that to you?"

"Yes." he called me in.," Yegor said "He said he wanted to discuss the Youth Association. And then he said it, that it would be disbanded, and that would be it. But that he might reconsider if we... shifted allegiance."

Howard stared at the young man, wondering whether it was true or false. Had George actually made such a move? Or were these overeager young me goading him into taking a step from which he still shrank?

The young man knew that Howard could guess that he was lying, but also knew that Howard wanted to be deceived. It was not the truth what Howard wanted, but an excuse to throw out his unrealistic restraint based on personal fondness. He yearned to throw away those sentimental shackles and deal with the enemy as he always meant to.

"Continue" Howard said "How it was to be reorganized after it shifted allegiance?"

"I could have the top job and be seemingly independent. But he meant to keep me on a string, until he was sure of my loyalty."

"And how would he be sure of your loyalty?"

"I would have to sleep with him." the youth said, blushing, just as if such a proposition had been made. "there would be pictures of it, and he would keep them, so as to keep me in line... and..." let's make it real bad. Let's goad Howard into a mental scenario where rage would overwhelm his judgment "I might bring others to him."

It worked. The blood drained off Howard's face. He forgot how unlikely it was, he forgot all he knew about George, and how they had once been friends. He only saw _his_ young men degraded for George's pleasure..

And Derek... Derek, with no Roxanne to keep check on him would ravage the young women and sell them into prostitution...

They would do it. Unless he stopped them.

He had hesitated, but no more. He had to get rid of George and Derek, before they moved against him.

Howard felt this urge, a red wave that crashed through his throat into his teeth. He swallowed and he grew more drunk with it. He wanted it. He wanted George Brant dead, swinging from the lampposts. He wanted Derek dead, and if Patterson fought it, he would die too... He and Roxanne would be alone at last.

And above them, invisible to their eyes, a face looked at them, amused. Kira Petofi, summoned from the dead, to lead another band of children into a murderous frenzy.

* * *

It was happening. Nicholas smiled. In spite of his weakness, he had summoned Kira Petofi and she had come.

The hour of triumph was at hand. It would start here, at the egg, and burnt through Collinsport, through Maine, though the entire United States

His weakness did not matter. The questions about Roxanne did not matter. Vassily's enemies were about to kill each other. After that he would summon Vassily and Nastassia back, let them reclaim their kingdom and reward him...

...Or not... for in spite of all, the fear did not leave Nicholas Blair. A voice kept asking him if he could _trust_ the stranger who offered him power and then took it away? Why did he not show himself? Did he meant to reward him? Or just to make use of him and then throw him away?

Or worse, what if this new master was an old enemy of his... he had had so many...

* * *

The head was not still dead. While it lived the Petofis had power, and Kira and Vassily could make their friends kill each other.

It would die soon, but not yet. And the rules prevented Amy from hastening that death. If she did, the consequences could be devastating...

She hoped that Edmund, Frances, and Barnabas could bring Elsa in before Burke got hold of her...

The head laughed at her. "I am not dying fast enough for you am I?"

"Hope you do, or the Petofis will claim you again."

* * *

Kira danced over her devotees, naked. The dance of Kali, the dance of death. He let them into a frenzy of destruction, they own as well as that of their enemies. They did not care whose blood flowed on the streets as long as there was blood...

Pulled by Kira's invisible leash they went to rescue Roxanne, believing that they were led by Howard. And Howard believed it too.

George saw them coming and braced himself, This was what they had been expecting, what he had hoped did not come to pass.

This is how he would die...

He pushed back all regrets of not seeing Collinsport, nor Barnabas, nor Georgina again. All he could do was fight hard, and show them that he was not easy to kill...

"We have come to take Mrs. Pearce with us." Howard said.

George looked at him, thing to contain the rage that was mounting on him. To end this way... Why had he ever trusted, even befriended a killer like Howard? "She is not going."

"Let her go or we'll kill you."

George pointed his gun at him. "I will not be the only one to die. These are your children, Howard. How can you justify it to yourself leading them to their deaths?"

"We are here of our own free will" Yegor said.

"Don't do it!" Roxanne hollered from her cell. "Don't kill each other! It is Vassily, don1t you see? He wants us to do this!

She kept hollering, telling them that they were being manipulated. She said that Frances was not dead, that she would come back.

But Kali danced over their heads and they did not listen.

Derek and Patterson stood behind George, their guns ready.

"If it is a fight they want, a fight we will give them" said Derek, as he felt a surge of self-righteousness as he had never known before...

* * *

Elsa stared at the small whirlwind that that formed on the street.

It had come out of nowhere and now it stood in front of her. It was a small one, and carried only small particles in its way. But it was growing, and coming towards her.

"That is Burke coming for her!" Edmund shouted.

"Yes." Barnabas said. "If it touches her, she will be carried away."

"Run! Elsa, Run!" Frances shouted. "Come to us! We will protect you!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Elsa ran, knowing that the whirlwind was coming after her.

"She has to come here." Frances said. "We cannot come after her."

Barnabas stood as close to the entrance as he dared, ready to extend his hand when Elsa came close enough.

"You cannot pull her in." Frances reminded him. "The moment your hand crossed the barrier, your injury returns. If she breaks in, you can drag her in."

Barnabas sighed, but pulled his hand closer.

The whirlwind grew and a human figure began to take form inside it. Burke's features were not formed yet, but Barnabas knew that they would be there.

"Can't you help her?' Barnabas asked plaintively. She was so close... but Burke was getting closer.

"We cannot let him have her." Frances said, her voice dull "If she cannot get here in time.." she did not add a word, but she now had a doll in her hand, and a pin aimed straight at the doll's chest.

"You can't!" Barnabas protested. "You can't kill her."

"Get her in here before it is too late, them. Edmund, send your power to her. Drag her in with it. And you, Barnabas, put your hands on his shoulders. Let him draw from your strength for this."

* * *

Amy saw the whirlwind come closer to Elsa. Saw Barnabas giving his strength to Edmund. Saw Frances ready to kill, if necessary.

There might be a way to save Elsa, there was still hope... but Burke should not be allowed to have her.

The game had to be played, and not by her. She could not interfere in this, as she could not make the head die any faster.

Elsa's life was on the balance and she could not change the outcome... it was up to them, not her...

She turned her attention to George and the others. The duel with Howard on one side, and George and Derek in the other was about to begin. A duel where the only victor would be Vassily Petofi, who would not taste his triumph, because by then the head would have died...

She could not act there.

But she could buy time.

She summoned Roxanne to her.

"Go to the other Roxanne." she said. "Open the door of her cell and help her."

Roxanne vanished and Amy turned to her cards again.

The head chuckled, weakly "Still you think that you can avoid killing? Still believe in that sentimental nonsense? Well, you already killed. You have doomed the vampire to death."

Amy tried to ignore him. It did not matter what he said. He would be dead soon, anyway...

* * *

"Do not force us to kill you" Patterson said.

"We will do what is right. We will not give in to your threats:" Howard answered.

"Howard" Derek said, sick at the thought of the killing to come. "Come to your senses. Save the children. Tell them to go home."

Howard looked at him with hatred. He was the one who had taken Roxanne from him with lying words of love. And then , framed her for Frances' murder. No, he would not just hang him when he got his hands on him. He would disembowel him with his bare hands.

Brant, he still respected enough to grant him a quick death. And Patterson did not matter. But Derek, he would have his revenge on him. For himself, Frances, and Roxanne.

"No!: Don't do it!"

It was Roxanne, rushing to stop the killing.

George grabbed her roughly "How did you get out?"

"Don't do it! You'll only kill each other! Don't you see? Vassily Petofi is here! He is doing this to you!"

Derek put the gun to her head. :"This is all your fault. Tell me why I should not shoot you."

"Let her go!" Howard said, pointing his gun at Derek "Let her go or I'll..."

"You'll do what?" Derek quickly put Roxanne in front of him. "You'll shoot her?'

Roxanne did not resist. Maybe this was what was needed to keep them from killing each other.

"I did not kill Frances!" she shouted "She is alive! The other Roxanne took her away! She did it because we are all in danger! Don't you see? Vassily Petofi wants his kingdom back, and he wants us to kill each other!"

Patterson stood next to her. He wanted to grab her and pull her away, but she was now the only shield they had...

"Please tell us more." he said. "If we are being played."

Howard hesitated. Roxanne could be hurt...

But he also felt the bloodlust rise in him, and he felt it growing in the children... He remembered how it had been... when he had fangs... He looked at Derek's throat and saw the vein pulsing there... He wanted to tear out that throat, gorge on that blood...

He had killed men for much less...

Kira danced over them, riding the waves of anger and fear that emanated from the children, feeding them into Howard, and let some of it go into Derek, and Brant, and Patterson... Only Roxanne escaped her... but it did not matter because she would be dead soon.

Nicholas had joined them, not sure that he would be needed, not sure what his move should be, nor where his true interests lied...

He had called Vassily and Kira. But what if he was no more useful? What it his only reward was having his throat cut?

* * *

'Yes, Dr. Blair. keep sending doubt into his mind" Amy said. "Let him think that he will only be safe if he betrays first."

She looked again at Elsa.

Arms were coming out of the man-shaped whirlwind, reaching for her. Elsa ran and saw a door opened in front of her..

He sensed that there were friends there, or at least an escape, and jumped into it.

Barnabas' arms caught her.

"We have to go now." Frances said. "Burke is coming closer and I Edmund may not close it in time."

She took Elsa by the hand and led her into the corridor.

"I will stay" Barnabas said to Edmund.

"No, go. If he gets through, you may be able to stop him. And stop Frances from killing Elsa."

* * *

"Dr. Blair!" Roxanne shouted at him. "Please help me! Please let them know..."

Nicholas hesitated. If he were to change sides now, if he were to throw himself at their mercy... they would be merciful. They believed in mercy. They would give him another chance...

"Doctor Blair! Doctor Blair!"

Nicholas dispelled the illusion that was built around him.

"You are not Doctor Blair!" Roxanne shouted. "You are not him! Look at him!"

George did look at him. "Nicholas Blair!" he shouted. A chill came upon his body, freezing his blood, and dispersing the anger inside him.

He looked up and saw Kira, and he saw Vassily behind her. And Nastassia after that... And farther away, a severed head atop a pole...

He saw the trap that had been laid for them, and how they had fallen into it...

And it was too late. A gun would fire, and others would fire, again and again, till they ran out of bullets, or hands to press the triggers...

He looked a the children massed behind Howard, ready to kill and die, and he pitied them. They had so much, they had been offered so much, and now it would be taken away. All the promises that had been made to them would be lost. The ones who survived would be serfs again and know the knout at their backs.

If he did not stop this madness, if he did not at least try, then he would have failed all of those who had put their faith in him.

If only he could make them see what he saw...

"Howard!" he shouted at him. "Don't let it happen. I don't want this."

"But I do." Howard felt himself say it. He kept thinking of blood, rivers of blood to slake his thirst. Torn throats spurting out the liquid to satisfy him. Why did he hesitate? Why didn't he press the trigger? Their bullets could not harm him. As for Roxanne... Roxanne had blood like the others... he wanted that blood too..

He would drink everybody's blood. He would feast on it.

"Look at Nicholas! Look at him as he is! He is doing this to us!"

"Howard!" Roxanne pleaded. "Look at him! Look at him!"

Nicholas did not move.

It was not betrayal, since he did not help Roxanne and the others, in any way. But it was not helping Vassily, either. He just stood there, letting his fate be decided a few feet from him.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Maggie turned on her bed, and looked at the sleeping face of Quentin.

It surprised her that she had done this. She had meant only to talk to him, and so did he. But the shock of learning about Elsa had somehow pushed them into each other's arms.

Would she regret it later? Perhaps...

And yet, she _did_ find him attractive...

Of course, given the kind of tomcat that he was, she'd better not put much hopes in him. He was good for a one-night-stand, no more.

* * *

Burke had entered the labyrinth, and Edmund was trying to hold him off. He could not, of course. He might have Nicholas' power, but was still untrained. But he had to last long enough for Elsa to reach Amy...

Frances could not help thinking that if Elsa died, they would be safe...

She was ashamed to think like that... It was almost how Roxanne thought..

Barnabas was torn. He had to deliver Elsa to Amy, as he had promised Edmund... but if he fought with Burke, he might delay him long enough...

* * *

Edmund was tired. He knew that he could not hold forever against the onslaught that Burke sent to him. He just did not have the power nor the skill.

But he could delay Burke...

He did not have time to worry if Burke would kill him after he got through, or would be in too much of a hurry to claim Elsa to waste time finishing him off.

* * *

Amy trembled. Burke had entered the labyrinth ad Edmund would not hold forever. And the first shot was about to be fired in the egg, and once it was, it would be all over... And while Vassily would lose in the end, he would remain in power long enough to help Burke.

If only the head died... but it clung to life. Its eyes were covered by a milky film, its lips were pulled back, showing the teeth in a grimace. It did not move.

But if you looked closely, some of the muscles still twitched.

Not enough time... not enough time.

The Tower of Destruction loomed large among her cards. The Wheel had turned, and turned against them... there seemed no way out.

Unless she Made Time.

She had not tried it before. And she would rather be cautious about such tings.

But it was not the time to be cautious. I she failed in this she would not get another chance. Neither would she have a chance if Burke was not stopped. She could not fight on two fronts at once, so one front would be Stopped in Time.

She laid down the Tower and the Wheel together, to represent what was happening on the egg. Then she took the Hanged Man to represent the Suspension of Time and laid it on top of them. She then slashed her arm and let the blood flow over it, binding the cards to the will.

"As the Hanged Man is held waiting for release or punishment, then let the Destruction and the Turn of the Wheel be held waiting for either fulfillment or defeat."

She put all her will into it. All the power that she could gather in herself she sent to the Hanged Man card.

A convulsion took hold of her. And then a draining of her strength. She collapsed and lost consciousness for a few moments.

She came to with Barnabas standing over her, And Elsa, with Frances behind her.

"Did I do it?" she asked.

"Did what?" Barnabas asked.

"Stop time." she got up and touched her cards. "Yes. I did.. They are Frozen in time. Northing will happen to them until we are done with Burke.

"They?" Barnabas asked, alarmed.

"George and the others in the egg. Don't worry. I have taken care of it. As I said, nothing will happen to them now. But if you want to make sure...

She put her hand over Barnabas' eyes, letting him share in her vision.

And Barnabas did see them. George, Derek, and Patterson, with guns, facing Howard and the children he led. He saw Roxanne, caught in the crossfire. He saw Nicholas, wondering which side he should choose. He saw Kira, dancing over their heads and filling them with madness. He saw Vassily, ready to reclaim what was his.

And he saw that they were not moving, that no shot would be fired till after Burke had been faced and dealt with.

"Edmund will not withstand much longer." she then said to him. "You must go to him and aid him.. You too." she said to Frances. "You must buy time for me and Elsa."

* * *

Edmund would not let go. He was beaten. He could not keep Burke from forcing his way in. If he kept struggling like this, Burke might well decide to kill him, while if he let go, Burke might spare him...

But he had promised Amy that he would hold on.

Grinding his teeth, he gathered all the strength that he had stolen from Nicholas. And some strength that he did not know he had...

It was his last task. The only thing he had to do.

Blood ran from his mouth, from biting his lips in the effort, but he did not notice it. Cold sweat bathed him, and he shivered, but he did not relent.

He would fight Burke. He would keep him away. He had promised Amy and Dr. Blair... He was Quentin Collins's son. He could not do otherwise.

* * *

Amy laid down the Ace of Wands. A card of strength. Not the strength of destruction, but that of growth. She no longer had to worry about Vassily and Kira. Nicholas' will had been weakened by drink and self-doubt. Only Burke remained. And to face him, he would need all of them. Edmund, Barnabas, Roxanne, and Frances. Between the four of them they would form the fist that would beat him back. Yes. four fingers of her hand, and the thumb, Elsa, hidden from view. Let the four be the hand that held the wand that would bar Burke's way.

* * *

Edmund had fallen to his knees. But he was still alive, and he still had strength left.

"Why don't you give up and save yourself?' Burke asked him. "Do you think that whoever sent you to do this is worth it? You are only a child. You know that you have lost. Why throw your life away?

Edmund wanted to answer him that he had not lost, and that it was worth it to stop the man who had imprisoned Dr. Blair in his glass cage. But he could not find the breath for it.

"Yes Burke, it is worth it.:" he heard someone say. He then saw Barnabas, Frances, and Roxanne. "And the four of us will stop you."

'You?" Burke laughed. "You think that you can stop me?"

"Yes, Burke, we will."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"You want me to explain, don't you?" Amy asked Elsa "I will do my best. Burke is trying to come back and he needs you for it. I intend to keep you away from you. One way or the other."

"Or the other? You mean kill me?"

"Not if I can help it. But if it needs be I will do it. I don't want it, but all our lives, and more besides, will be lost if Burke wins. And you would not want to be in his power again. Barnabas is going to die, I know it, and he knows it, and there is nothing we can do about it." she spoke bitterly. "There is nothing I can do about a lot of things. but there are other things that I can do. I can save you, but you must do as I say, no questions asked."?

"But..."

"No questions asked, understood? I will waste no time arguing with you. You understand?"

Elsa nodded agreement.

Amy took out a card. "This is the Star. It is a good card for those who can find it. Whoever holds it, shall win. You are the Star. While I hold you, Burke can't win. Should I lose you, he will. So I must hide the Star and shield it." She took four more cards. "Knight of Swords, Queen of Swords, Page of Swords, King of Swords. Let a Circle of Swords surround the Star, and be you in this guise protected.

"You are witch, aren't you?' Elsa whispered, as she curled up on the floor, and let the invisible walls close about her. "You are like Angelique."

"No questions" Amy growled "Not till I am done."

Elsa was silent while Amy took two more cards. "To lay under your feet, to put between the Star and the ground that holds her, I put the Death card, which shows her fate if anyone but me opens her cage."

Elsa shivered but said nothing.

"And on top the Nine of Coins. The card of Prudence, of Hiding. I have treasure that no one can reach, but me." she pulled back "There, it is done. Burke can't claim you without killing you."

"You will do it, then?"

"He might yet not come. Edmund and the others might be able to expel him from the labyrinth... But it is not likely... But if he sees you, he will know that even if he kills all of us, he won't be able to claim you. He won't be able to change anything even if he gets hold of my cards. They only answer to a true Sibyl. "

'You are a witch,"

'Not a witch, a Sibyl."

"Why not ask Angelique for help?"

"Because I know more of this than she does. And she has just delivered a child. Her strength has not rebuilt yet."

"How about Megan?"

"She is too caught in vampire politics. And then, while she is street wise, this is a street that she has never been in. No, it is up to us."

Elsa gulped. she was scared and there was little that she could do to change her situation.

"I am sorry" Amy said "I did not choose to be Sibyl, either."

"I suppose it is _some_ consolation." Elsa said, bleakly.

"I will let you know how they are doing. Let's hope it works out."

* * *

"All four of you." Burke laughed. " A child. a wraith, a woman with no powers whatsoever. and you, Barnabas, a sentimental vampire... Do you think that you have what it takes to stop me?'

"We will stop you, nevertheless," Barnabas said.

"How about you?" Burke turned to Frances. "I have no quarrel with you. I can let you live if you let me go on my way. And anyway, what can you help to accomplish? You have no power, there is nothing special about you. Your husband married you out of gratitude because you were his nurse. When a real woman came along he forgot all about you, and let his mistress kill you. That's how little he cared about you."

Frances paled. It was true, wasn't it? She was nothing, she counted for nothing...

"Don't listen to him."

"Do you think that anyone cares what happens to you?' Burke kept his distance from the four, but would not retreat. He did not rush them, as he sensed that together they were stronger than their own individual strengths. If Frances held, she could bring her inner strength to them mix. But if she was made to doubt herself...

He could defeat them after a struggle, yes. But it would take time, and it would allow Elsa to escape. He had to find the chink in that armor.

"So we meet for our duel, at last." Barnabas said. "A duel again, but this time not for Vicky Winters."

"Vicky?" Burke shrugged "You can have her. I do not like bossy women as she is. No, it is Elsa that I want. who knows how to obey."

"Well, then a duel for Elsa Quarles then."

* * *

"They are fencing with words, still." Amy informed Elsa. "Soon Burke will decide whether he found the weak spot he wants, or just retreat."

"If they fight, can Barnabas and the others beat him back?'

"They might. If Burke does not find a weak spot and goes for it." She suspected that Burke already knew the weak spot. Frances... or Roxanne...Any of them could be made to doubt herself, and when the doubt took hold of them, then it would be the end...

"Can't you help them?'

"I have no strength to spare. I used it in creating your cage and in stopping time. I cannot use any more power until the head dies."

'The head?"

"Yes. The head of the wizard which is the focus of the power of the Petofis. When it dies, their power will lose cohesion and they will find themselves helpless. When it does, I can let time flow again in the egg, since Vassily will be easy to vanquish."

"And I must wait... to die?"

"You will not die if I can help it."

"But you might not... You set me up..."

"Believe me, this is your only protection."

"Some protection... Why don't you admit that you don't care what happens to me? That you are ready to sacrifice me to get what you want?"

Amy shrugged "Believe it, if it comforts you."

"You are a cold blooded bitch."

"I am a Sybil"

* * *

Burke threw his power at them, and they reeled from it, but they held and stood their ground. Frances was surprised how much strength she could call on,

"You can be defeated" Burke said, in frustration. He could not help wasting time on them, and that infuriated him. By the time he was don with them, Elsa might be completely out of reach.

Yet he would not give up. He had not given up when Roger had flaunted his wealth in front of his eyes. He had not give up in jail. He had not give up when Barnabas tried to steal Vicky from him. He had no give up in the jungle. He had not given up when he was a sorcerer's slave and student...

Giving up was not in him.

"We will not give in to you". Barnabas said, calmly "We were sent here to stop you, and we will."

"You? What can you really do? And her?" he turned to Roxanne "You are only a wraith... you died and it was his fault. He threw your life away! Why are you helping him?"

"You cannot make me turn from my duty" She answered.

"What about you?" This time he faced Edmund. "You are only a child, who thinks that he is powerful. I don't know where you got your powers, but you don't know how to use them. And you." he turned again to Frances "Why do you help Barnabas? You have been devoted to him for many years, and what has your devotion brought you? Not his love, certainly. He quickly agreed to marry you off to someone he had recently met. Someone who later sat and did nothing while his mistress tried to kill you. Do you think that any of them deserves your devotion? And what about you, Barnabas? How dare you to put a child and a woman devoted to you in the line of fire?"

"I dare because I must. And should your power be as great as you say it is, you would to seek to defeat us with words."

* * *

"Words. Still words" Amy said. "I wonder why Burke does not give up. He should know that he is wasting time... But he hopes to find a weak spot in their resolve. He might find it yet. It does not matter."

'Why it does not matter?"

"Because I am ready for him."

* * *

Words would not budge them. Barnabas had called his bluff. If he had so much power, why fight with words?

So he acted. He gathered all his strength, and focused it over Barnabas' heart Let his power be like a wooden stake and pierce that hated heart. If he did nothing else, he would kill Barnabas Collins and win that old duel between them.

"Barnabas! Watch out!" Edmund shouted, pushing Barnabas aside, and receiving the blast himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Edmund fell to his knees, screaming. Flame showed on his lips and sparks danced before his eyes.

"Edmund!" Barnabas shouted, bending over him

"It would have killed you." Edmund said.

"But you..."

"You have killed the boy," Burke said, laughing "He died to save you. How does that make you feel? And he was the strongest one of you. Now will you let me pass, or do I have to destroy Frances too?"

"Let him go through" Edmund said, weakly "we were only meant to delay him, and we have done that."

Frances and Roxanne came closer and still barred the way. Barnabas let go of Edmund and joined them.

"We will not let you pass. As long as there is one of us, we will not let you pass."

Burke laughed and prepared himself for the next blow. Frances would be the next one, then the wraith, Roxanne. She could not be killed but she could be exorcized. Then it would be Barnabas and him.

Blood ran from under Edmund's body. He did not move, knowing that he must appear to be dead, if he were to protect Frances, Roxanne, and Barnabas.

They could not stop Burke, and there was no need to. Amy had had all the time she needed, and she was the one to confront Burke now. He merely had to keep all three safe. Frances had to be returned home, to help unravel the mess back there. And Roxanne and Barnabas should be able to fight again...

But he had to appear to be dead. He let the blood flow from him. It was not as much as it seemed, and it did not incapacitate him. The flames at his lips were painful, but did no damage. In fact they dissipated an energy that would consume him otherwise.

He watched Burke, figuring where his next blow would hit.

Burke sent his power to Frances. Edmund shielded her, so that when she fell, and was enveloped by flames she was not harmed.

"Two gone. Two to go" Burke taunted. "They could have been saved if you had given in, Barnabas. Let this thought carry you to the next world."

Roxanne was next. The bold of pure energy that surrounded her could not harm her. But it could imprison her, as it did. Edmund saw it, and how it could be taken down.

"Now it is only you and me, Barnabas." Burke said, smiling. "Ready to duel at last, the two of us. A duel to the death."

* * *

Amy grinned ferally. Now it was up to her to face Burke. That was the only way Burke could be expelled from the labyrinth, if she did it herself.

She sensed that Edmund and Frances were alive, and that they would come back. Still...

Edmund and Frances would live. Roxanne would continue in her quest for redemption, she and Sebastian. But Barnabas...

Barnabas had to be hurt, because he would not give in to Burke. Because the memory of that deferred duel still stung him.

Amy adjusted her mantle. She would receive Burke in full regalia. Let him know that he was dealing with a Sibyl, a power as great or greater than him.

The Ace of Clubs cards was tottering on the edge of the table. Three of the fingers which held the club had fallen, but the fourth still was holding. And the severed head was almost dead... almost... She wished that it died already and she could release the time lock on the egg. She wished...

She wished for many things that might not come true.

She must not think like that. Regret was useless.

She took the Moon card and held it over the Ace of Clubs. She claimed the protection of the Moon and it healing power over the bruised fingers, which, though defeated, should be able to rise again.

The Ace of Clubs fell to the ground.

"Burke is on its way" she said to Elsa "what will be, will be."

She laid the Moon card over the Ace of Clubs.

"As the Moon gives drink to thirsty beasts, they let healing be given you, for you have served me faithfully, the four of you."

* * *

Barnabas lay on the ground, paralyzed - because the last blow had dislodged the silver needle from his neck - saw the whirlwind pass by, hungry for Elsa.

He had lost, and he had let two other people who trusted him to their deaths.

Bitterness mounted in him, spurred by his inability to move in any way. He had tried and failed, and now Burke would reclaim Elsa and all would be lost and...

Edmund stirred.

""Edmund? Are you alive?'"

"Yes. I am. And so is Frances. You can get up, now."

"I can't... How?"

"We could not stop him. Amy let me know when we had delayed him enough, and that we could let him win."

The flames around Frances died down and he lifted her head, unharmed. "How?" she asked. "How come I am still alive?"

"It had to be this way." Edmund said as he released Roxanne. "We could not have stopped him. But we could delay him enough, which is what we did. Then I had to keep him from killing anyone here."" he turned to Barnabas "can't you get up at all?"

"I am paralyzed. I can't even crawl on my arms. Amy fixed it with a silver needle, but it has been dislodged. If you take me to her, she may be able to fix it."

* * *

"Welcome, Burke Devlin, the Hidden Warlock who is no longer Hidden"

"And you are Amy Jennings" Burke looked at her with scorn "and you believe that you can stop me. You who could not send better foes against me than a child, a ghost, a woman with no powers, and Barnabas Collins."

"I have stopped you. And they, for all that you scorn them, have done what I set them out to do. You will not reclaim Elsa. She is there, close enough for you to reach, but should you try to touch her, she will die. See the cage that holds her. Tell me if it could be open by any other means than my will."

Burke moved closer to Elsa, who cringed and tried to make herself small.

"You cannot touch her. And any attempt to free her will cause her death."

"You have done it. How? With these cards?' He reached for the cards.

"Yes. With these."

"Well." Burke took the cards and threw them all over the room., tearing them up. " they no longer work. And the cage no longer holds."

But when he reached out to Elsa, he could not touch her. And when he looked back, the cards were again, intact, on the table.

"Tear the cards into pieces. Burn them, and scatter the ashes. They will still return These cards only obey a Sybil, and you are no Sybil."

"And you are?"

"I am."

"What would happen should a Sybil die?"

"The cards would remain as I laid them. They can only be removed by a Sybil's command. If you kill me, the cards will remain until another Sybil comes claim them."

"But a Sybil can be forced to undo her work."

"If a Sybil will break and be forced, she will no longer be a true Sybil, and the cards will not obey her."

"I shall have to see if that is true."

"You have lost, Burke Devlin. You can avenge yourself on me, as you did no Barnabas Collins. You can inflict pain on me and those I care for. But you cannot command the cards nor reclaim Elsa.. Also you have just lost the Petofis and Nicholas."

"I have not lost them yet."

"The head has just died. The Petofis can no longer focus their power. Kira can no longer drive crowds to madness. Andreas's head in the labyrinth is now truly dead. And time can now flow again in what was once Vassily's kingdom."

She took away the Hanged Man. "See the Tower of Destruction? That was what you meant for us. But the Wheel has turned, and the tower that fell was the power of the Petofis. And Nicholas will not help you. His power was drained off by Edmund, and his mind is filled with thoughts of betrayal. He fears being betrayed by you, so he will betray first... No, Burke, you have lost."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Kira no longer danced over their heads, and the expressions on their faces reflected this. Where had there been bloodthirstiness and blind determination, there was now confusion, fear, a sense of things not being right.

Derek lowered his gun... had he been ready to shoot children? He noticed that he had grabbed Roxanne roughly and let her go, ashamed.

Patterson felt himself blush. He had acted like a damn fool, getting caught in someone else's drama...

Howard's eyes still held the mad light in them but that was not that they held. He saw Roxanne and knew that she could be caught in the crossfire, and that was the last thing he wanted. He would settle with George and Derek later, if it had to be, but not with Roxanne in the middle.

George knew that Kira was gone. Felt the relief that her absence brought, and knew that the worst was over.

They were not out of danger yet. The passions stirred where already in them before Kira arrived, and they would have to be resolved.

But not today, and not with guns.

"We have all been tricked." Roxanne said "that man there is not Doctor Blair. He is Nicholas Blair, the warlock.:"

Nicholas looked at her and wanted to deny it. but the thoughts came to him like knives. The Petofis had lost, and thought it had not been his fault, who knows if his master decided to blame him? And if that was so, who could protect him? Angelique might, but he would have to do something in exchange for that protection...

He had to confess and throw himself at their mercy. It was the only chance he had.

"She is right." he said. "I don't know how it failed or why, but we could not kill you. I will tell you all I know, if you protect me."

'Nicholas Blair?" Howard asked " You did this?

"What about Frances?" George asked.

"He goaded me into trying to kill her." Roxanne said. "He goaded all of us into trying to kill each other. But I did not kill Frances. The other Roxanne intervened. She took Frances with her, warned me that we were being set up, and commanded me to say nothing of it. So I said nothing."

"You said that you were Dr. Blair." George said. "What about the real Dr. Blair? Does he exist?"

"Yes. He does. I have him here." Nicholas pulled him out of his pocket, showing the crystal to Roxanne.

"Release him!" Roxanne commanded.

Nicholas knew that the time to dictate terms was long past. He let the crystal rest on the ground and made passes in front of it.

Nothing happened.

"My power! It is gone!"

Roxanne put her hand on his throat "You find that power, Nicholas Blair or you won't need any protection from anyone. Release him now!"

"I can't!"

"Try!"

"The power is not there anymore!"

"If you cannot restore Dr. Blair, they you are no good to us. So if you want to keep on living, do your best to bring him back."

* * *

"So it ends for you here. The Petofis will not help you. They can't even help themselves. And you see how little use Nicholas will be to you.."

Still, Nicholas had asked for protection, and he had been promised it. She gestured over the Tower card, returning some of his power to Nicholas, enough to release Dr. Blair from his prison.

Then, quickly, she slipped the Magician card under the Moon card. "And he is under my protection now, even if he little deserves it. You can't hurt him either. You can't hurt anyone here, except me, and it will not help you any if you do.. You have lost everything."

* * *

"Try again" Roxanne said "And it'd better work this time"

Nicholas cringed and tried. And this time the crystal, which seemed to be a single, seamless piece, opened a door, and Doctor Blair walked out. unsteadily.

"Make him grow to normal size" Roxanne said "Put him back the way you found him."

Nicholas did. Doctor Blair seemed pulled in all directions, then he expanded, stretched, and then was at eye level with his former tormentor.

"So you are what I might have been if I had had not better sense:" he said, with scorn. "You could have made something better of yourself than this."

Nicholas did not answer. he was now too terrified to do anything but cringe and wait for the worst.

"We promised you protection, Nicholas" George said. "And you shall have it. We'll contact Angelique and let her decide how it is to be done. In the meantime, you'll have to stay in jail."

Nicholas let himself be led without a protest. It was his only chance, and he knew it.

"I wonder how I could have thought that he was you." Roxanne said to Dr.. Blair.

"He tapped my mind to know how to act and move around you. He became me... but that was his downfall, because I could use his link to me to drain off his power...and then to plant the ideas in his mind about betrayal... well, that's enough. I have not seen you for a long time, and there is much to talk about.

* * *

"So it ends." Amy said "The last loose end. Nicholas is under my protection, and Doctor Blair is free. Vassily Petofi will never reclaim his kingdom. Don't you understand, Burke? I have defeated you."

"It cost you Edmund, Frances and Barnabas."

"It cost me no more than I am willing to pay."

At that moment Edmund and Frances came in, dragging Barnabas between them.

"You did not kill them, Burke. And it is not in your power to harm them."

"What is the matter with him?" Burke pointed to Barnabas

"I was injured earlier." Barnabas said, "and your blow exacerbated it."

"So you _did_ pay after all. I hurt you. I did win."

"Against me, yes. Against all of us, you did not. If crippling me was all you could accomplish, then your power is not that great."

"But I did defeat you! "

"Yes, if it pleases you."

"There is nothing for you here, Burke Devlin." Amy said. You will not get Elsa back. All you can do is lose her forever."

"So?"

"So leave the labyrinth. There is no place for you here. I rule here and do wish you gone." she took a card from the deck. "if you do not leave, the cards will expel you."

Burke scowled but said nothing. He had lost. Once Elsa was out of his reach, Amy could unleash all the power of he deck against him, and he could not prevail against it.

But he would come back...

"You won. For now. But I will claim Elsa yet."

He vanished and Amy sighed. There would be another battle. She better make ready for it.

Amy pushed the needle back into Barnabas' neck. He stood up on his own.

"Are we safe now?" Edmund asked.

"Can we go home?' Frances asked.

"Yes. You can go home" Amy said to Frances "They are waiting for you. Roxanne, you go with her. There will be a lot of explaining to do. Vassily is gone, and Nicholas no longer holds power over anyone there. But the conflicts that Nicholas exploited are still there and need to be resolved. You all must deal with them."

A doorway opened and Frances stepped into it.

"You can tell Nicholas that he is under my protection now, and that he will be contacted as to how he might earn it."

"I will tell him that."

"Good luck, Frances."

Frances and Roxanne disappeared.

"The battle is ended for her." Amy said. "Now it is Edmund's turn. He has to return his power."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"What do you mean return my power? I want to keep it!"

"You have to, Edmund. It is not yours, it is Nicholas Blair's"

"And see what he has done with it. Do you really want him to be powerful again? While I... I can use it to help."

Amy sighed. She should have seen it.

"You are being tempted by power, Edmund. And you do not know how dangerous it is. It may corrupt you."

"Yeah... I know that. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But I..."

'You will be stronger than the temptation?" Amy said with more than a touch of cynicism "That's what all of them say. And they get corrupted. Power is a very potent drug."

"You are powerful. Are you corrupt?"

"I have to follow rules for what I do. If I break them, the penalty is great."

"So, why can't I have my power and rules?"

"Because you want your power so as not to have to abide by rules. That's how Nicholas started. He did not want to be told what to do, did not want anyone ruling him. So he saw magic a way out, a way to do only what he wanted... Then he realized that there were other rules, but he tried cheating on them... and well, one thing led to another. If you are not willing to abide by human rules, you will be less likely to abide by rules we set."

"But..."

"Could there not be some supervision, some trailing?" Barnabas interjected.

"And obey his teacher in all? " Amy said with sarcasm. "He is at the age when he does not want to obey anyone. That's why he gets to excited with what you can do."

"I did all you asked me to do, didn't I? I obeyed you."

"Yes, you did." Amy admitted. "But the time was too short for you to attempt to go on your own."

Edmund looked at Elsa still in her cage. "I think I know why you want me to return the power. You think that you might have to kill her still. And that if I had the power I could stop you."

"Edmund, you know..."

"I saw that Frances meant to kill her."

"Only if Burke came close to snatching her."

"Yeah. And you stopped him by threatening to kill her. And a threat is no good unless you are willing to carry it out. You _do_ want to kill her. " he turned to Barnabas "you know that it is true. The only one who can save Elsa is me, and that's why she wants me to return the power."

"Edmund, you must understand. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made."

"Sacrifices! You talk to sacrifices when other people get sacrificed. What have _you_ sacrificed?"

"My eyes. My human future. My human family. I am now the Sybil, and will one day forget my human name. Those who knew it will die and it will be forgotten. That's what I sacrificed."

"In exchange for power. Maybe you are the one being corrupted, and you do not know it."

"I do not want to die." Elsa said, weakly. "And why can't you let me out, if you do not mean to kill me?"

"I will release you, Elsa, when I am certain Burke has left the labyrinth, not before. And you won't be able to leave the labyrinth until Burke is defeated for good."

"And in the last resort, you will kill me."

Amy sighed, sinking her head in her hands. She should have seen it.

'I do not expect you to understand, nor to like me. All I can tell you is that from what I know of Burke, both from what I heard and what the cards tell me you do not wish to be in his power. He was taught by cruelty, and he is turning that cruelty outward. He was badly used in the past, and that is his excuse for using others badly... And I am the only chance anyone has against him... Ask Vicky Todd by which means he made his fortune... and that was before he became a sorcerer. People mean nothing to him now, if they every did... Elsa, you may think what you will of me, but still I am your best chance.

"But why don't you want Edmund to have the power? Are you so afraid of him?"

"I want to spare him. Sure, magic looks fun now. It did look fun to me, to be able to see what others do not. To do things others could not. To feel special. To believe that ordinary rules did not apply to me... yes, I was beginning to be tempted by power. Then I ran across Hallie... and I understood that the price for the power was to be a target. If I send you now, Burke will attack you because of your power."

"And if I do not have the power I will no longer be a target?"

"No."

"I will just be a sitting duck, then?"

"Like Robert Loomis." Barnabas interjected. "Like Hallie's victims, the ones she made into salamanders. No, Amy, the difference is not between being a target and being free of worry, but between being a target and being merely prey. Edmund does not intend to be helpless when trouble comes. He does not want to have to come begging you for help, and end up in a cage, with a death sentence over his head. He wants to be able to fight back."

"Barnabas, you do not understand."

"Power corrupts, and it may be corrupting you too, Amy."

"I have to live under strict rules..."

"That do not prevent you from using p0eople as tools. Yes, you will save us. But you will not let us save ourselves."

"Edmund is a child"

"Edmund is getting to be young man. A man who wants to be worthy of his father. "

"He is too young."

"Which gives him time to learn and be trained, for the time will come when his power may be needed, again and again to save Collinsport, and more than Collinsport. Burke will not be the last menace to come to Collinsport, and you cannot do it all by yourself."

"Barnabas, you do not understand."

"I understand that I will not be here much longer. I understand that Megan and Angelique might want to leave Collinsport for reasons of their own. Will Collinsport be left defenseless, with only you for protector? Will you deny the people there the chance to defend themselves? Edmund will not be the only one. Others might come into power, among the children growing up. Your choice will be whether they will have the proper guidance, or will you allow them to follow Nicholas' and Burke's path.. Amy it is about time to think of the future."

"And what do you know of the future?"

"Enough. I am going to die. I am in the labyrinth, next to your deck. Maybe it is because of this, but I can see the future; I can see Edmund as a powerful sorcerer, with Elsa at his side. I can see what will happen to all of you."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"You really can see the future, then?"

"At least enough of it. I guess the fact that I am dying makes it possible."

Amy said nothing for a while. Her face showed pity for him. This should not have happened. It was unfair... it was...

It was what it was. She was the Sybil, and she had powers, but some things she could not change.

"So, what do you know of the future? Not for me. I know what it is. What I have chosen."

"Yes. And you will find both satisfactions and heartbreak in it. "

"How about David?"

"He will marry again. Another of Quentin's descendants, which means that his children will have both light and darkness balancing each other. The werewolf heritage will make them undesirable as phoenixes, and they will grow learning how to control themselves so that their lives will not be blighted as Chris' and Tom's were."

"I guess I should be content.."

'You may help them on occasion."

"And Eliot?"

"David will accept Eliot's responsibility. Hallie will realize that Eliot is the only child she will ever have and will become the protector of his branch of the family.. She will learn wisdom at last, and may be free of her bondage. As for Eliot, he will always be in danger due to his phoenix heritage, and will have to make a choice himself whether to embrace or reject it. If he rejects it, he will marry Georgina, George's daughter, and her own heritage will keep him and his children grounded.

"And if he embraces it?"

"Then he may need to be stopped... But that will be up to you."

Amy nodded.

"I take that Chris and Oriana will do all right, too."

"Yes. They will. Oriana will have a moderately successful career in the local paper, and write columns that will occasionally be printed in major newspapers. Chris will be successful in his business. They will love their children, forgetting that they are adopted... When they remember, they will feel relief that the curse may not be passed to them... Of course, every now and then they will be called to counsel other werewolves who have problems adjusting. And so they will meet other Quentin descendants... Quentin left a lot of children in his wake...

"And they will remember me?'

"It will be a wound for Chris, but one that will heal. You will meet him again and again, and he will come to accept the situation. He will go on living and take whatever satisfactions life hands to him."

"I see."

"You said that I would be by Edmund's side." Elsa said

"Yes. He will be a sorcerer, and you be by his side." he ignored Amy's grumbling and went on. " You will help him in many ways, and more importantly, you will keep him grounded. Too many sorcerers go bad because they have no one to tell the truth to them. You will."

"How about Sabrina? What will she do?" Amy asked, not willing to discuss Edmund yet.

"She won't try to get Chris back. She will continue her career in Washington and raise her daughter. I doubt that she will come back to Collinsport, though Helena will... she will also fall for a Quentin descendant, and repeat much of the story of her mother, but with different mistakes."

Elsa sat down next to him. "Are you really going to die?" she asked.

"Yes. I am."

"But I don't want you to! I want you to get well I want you..."

"Elsa, you still have no power to get what you want in these things. Even Amy does not have that power. What will be will be..."

"It is not fair!" Edmund protested.

"It is not fair, but it is somehow fitting. I have lived longer than it is usually given to anyone. Many things were withheld from me, but many were given. I will not bemoan the opportunities lost, because I must also bemoan the ones I misused. I had much pain, but also much joy. I had friendship and love. I labored hard and saw my efforts bear fruit. I am comfortable knowing about the safety of those I care for.

"Is that enough for you?" Edmund asked again.

"It should be enough for any man... one day you will understand."

"How about the rest?" Amy interrupted. "Carolyn and Adam?"

"Carolyn will finally have a good marriage with Adam. The fact that she is loved, and loves in return will heal much of her wounds, and the same will happen to him. She will become a fixture in many a charity endeavor, and make good friends that way. He will become a better painter still, having found his own voice. They will endow a Plastic Arts School, with scholarships for poor children. They will achieve normalcy. Of course, they might have to contend with Parallel Time visitors from time to time, but they will know what to do."

"And Roger?"

"Roger will keep on looking for U.F.O.s, and one day he will sleep on the ground, catch pneumonia, and die of it..."

It was better to talk of other people, Amy thought... Less painful that way. And it gave her time to think...

"Vicky and Phillip?'

"Vicky will remain cordial with Carolyn, but there will be no friendship as Carolyn wishes. She will build a school in her new town and will become a prominent citizen there.. Phillip will discover a talent for restoring old houses, and become successful at that. Vicky's interest in history will lead her to launch historical reenactments - and after that, she will be elected Mayor. Her interests in history, and her own experience will lead her to discover suspicious documents and artifacts, that she will have the wits to have properly investigated. Edmund will help her out a few times, and she will help Edmund. Philip and Vicky's son, Phillip Barnabas Todd will become a researcher and occult expert, as good as Eliot Stokes ever was."

"How about in the egg?"

"Derek will divorce Roxanne, and Frances will divorce Howard. Then Howard will marry Roxanne, and Frances will marry Derek and this time they will get along a lot better. The people in the egg will slowly but surely be absorbed into the general population, and one day the egg will be empty, just a valuable antique."

What if she allowed Edmund to become a sorcerer? Would it be so terrible? She could keep him under control, and there was no reason to believe that he would pay the price she had.

"Willie..."

"Willie and Louella will have another child, and Willie will become a pillar of the community. Of course, he will be called on to help when there is vampire visiting... Megan made Collinsport a vampire friendly town, so many of them will stop by, and some of them may even consider moving in. Both his children will go to college, which will make Willie very proud. The boy will inherit Willie's desire to look for treasure, but he will do so in proper ways. He will become an archeologist who will make several interesting discoveries. Pearl will write several books about New England history and legends, based on the sorties her parents will tell her, and also what she can get from Vicky."..

"Megan and Angelique..."

"Megan will be more involved with vampire politics than she wanted to be, and she may be forced to end her relationship with Angelique, as Angelique will never be trusted by the others. Angelique will be heartbroken for a while, but she will heal, and she may find love again. She will become involved in Georgina's life at some point, and there may be friction between him and George."

"Julia..."

"Julia will have a new practice. The aging of vampire children. They will come to her regularly. Gretchen will grow up knowing several of the patients, and for a while she may try to follow his mother's footsteps, She will be visited by the spirits of his maternal relatives who will give her guidance, though neither Julia nor Kenneth will know it. Julia and Kenneth will grow old together and die of old age.."

"Maggie?"

"Maggie will marry Quentin, and help him fund a low cost housing initiative. She will insist that he get a vasectomy, which is long overdue, and they will adopt a couple of children. She will never be Senator for Maine, but she will be content with what she has."

"Tammy and Joe?"

"Will continue managing the agency and while most of their work will be quite mundane, they will be on hand when there are supernatural menaces to be handled... Megan trained them well... They will have several children, which will keep them busy. Their youngest boy will become a close pal of Willie's son and will have many adventures together.. And Joe will finally be accepted by her relatives with no hesitation."."

"Buffy and Frank.. Xavier and Sandy...The Kings..."

"They will have a mostly normal life. They may be called in to help when Eliot is trying to choose his heritage. After all, all of them have experience of phoenixes. So does Harry Redwolf, and this common experience will make him closer to the Davenports, and will accomplish much together. Sandy's children will spend a lot of time at the reservation, and learn a few of the old legends. And may have to deal with them when they threaten to come to life... Frank will be content with his position, and Buffy will be happy when the school she inherited from Vicky turns into a co-op, same as the food bank. She will become proficient on the use of computers, and train many others in their use. Zeb and Jessica will expand their clinic, and Jessica will publish a book on some of the most interesting case histories she ran across. I will not be included, though she will mention that a patient gave a false name and she spent time trying to get the wrong man to be tested. Their kids will be involved in some supernatural goings on but, again, their parent will know what to do."

"Iris?"

"Iris will continue raising Peter. Peter has psychic gifts, and Iris will come to accept that he be taught on how to control them, and how not to be afraid of them... He will use his psychic gifts when needed,, and will have a rather eventful life, but not a bad one. Iris will find love again, and his time someone who does not infuriate her."

"Urien?"

"He will become a biologist, and will do environmental work. In his spare time, he will try to track down all the information abut mermaids and other sea legends, in the hope that one day he will find proof that he can publish. He too, like Willie, will achieve respectability. He will do what he can to help street kids and runaways."

"You really can see all of it happening?"

"Most of it. What I cannot see is how the struggle with Burke will end. But I know that we will need Edmund's help for it, and that he cannot yet return to Collinsport."

.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Well, we had a narrow escape" Patterson said sententiously "and now you think that you are home free, and have nothing to worry about. Well, you do. Nicholas did not pull this mess out of thin air. It has been brewing for a long time."

"Sheriff, I know that you are upset" Howard tried to calm him.

"You bet that I am upset, caught in a crossfire like this, and all because you did not have any better sense.. There you go, testing your social theories on your guinea pigs, and to Hell with the consequences."

"It was not all my fault" Howard grumbled.

"Of course, the people outside stopped caring. Or at least, you said they did. And George, well, he did care, but he had theories of his own. No, don't try to protest." he said to George "you also had your cherished beliefs to uphold, whether they made sense or not. You assumed that anything that Howard did had a sinister explanation, so that meant that you did not have to listen to him. Did it not occur to you that he might have point? That Derek, for all of his good intentions, might not be entirely trustworthy? And you, Derek, did it occur to you that George might be unrealistic at times? Did you try to find something else in Howard's objections to your ideas besides a power grab? Yes, there was a bit of that, I grant you. But damn, he had several good points to make. You were not very careful in the people you chose, or the plans you made. There _were_ a couple of nasty incidents...

"I know but..."

"No buts. We all came close to being killed today, and that was because very bright people didn't know how to keep their throat from being cut. And came close to taking a lot of bystanders in the process, myself included. You." he turned to Howard. "You almost got a number of kids killed. After the way you talk about looking for their welfare, you used them as cannot fodder. Those children trusted you, and you led them to slaughter. Did you think that you try to string us up, and have us not fight back? That we would not shoot down at least half a dozen of them? I would think that given your education and experrie3nce, you would have tho0ught of it. And you." he turned to Roxanne. "Why do you have to turn something simple into something complicated? You have the hots for Howard. He has the hots for you. You can get divorced, marry each other, and arrange your lives. But no, it would not go with the power grab you were thinking about... Or maybe you did not think that it was complicated enough for your tastes. It is so much more fun to plot murder."

"You are upset, sheriff, and I understand why." Roxanne said. "But we had no control over our actions. Nicholas deceived us. Even you were deceived."

"I was not so deceived not to know what the situation was with you two. I knew what you wanted of me. Same as George A dull, obedient cop who would do what was asked of him and no more. I got enough from the Collins family back home. I do not want any more of it."

"I did not want that of you." George said.

"You did, sonny, you did. You think that I can't tell? Maybe I do not get some things as quickly as you do, and maybe I did not pay as much attention to civil liberties while I was in Collinsport as you think that I should have. But that does not make me a bumpkin. You remember how sore you were about the way the FBI treated you, thinking that a backwoods sheriff had nothing to teach them? It was the same with me. Feed me bullshiit and keep me in the dark, because I can't appreciate any better."

It felt good, Patterson thought, to be able to tell these people off. They had intimidated him with their knowledge and sophistication, and was because of that he had allowed them to run rings around him. But he would not let that happen anymore. If he was to continue in his job here, he would make sure that he would be much more than a glorified errand boy.

George, unwillingly, admitted to himself that Patterson had a point, and more than a right to be upset. He had had the best intentions in what he had tried to do (just the same as Howard, he thought ruefully) but good intentions are not a good excuse for making a mess of things... They had all made a mess of things, and deserved the scolding that Patterson was delivering to them.

And by the way the others looked, they were now figuring out the same thing.

* * *

"I am sorry I caused this trouble" Dr. Blair said to Roxanne.

"Nicky, you did not cause anything and you know it."

"Still..."

"Still nothing. We made a mess of things, and Vassily tried to come back, and your counterpart was involved in it. You are not going to claim responsibility for Nicholas' actions?"

"Well, he does look so much like me.. he is what I might have been if I had chosen differently."

"But you are not him, and he's not you. Why should you be ashamed of him? He is not your responsibility."

"Somehow it seems as it is... we were in close mental contact, all those weeks. I got to know him well, too well."

"Still, you are not him. And you chose differently than he did. Why should you be ashamed of the choices you did not make?"

'You make it sound so easy. But he _was_ my counterpart... how was it for you, meeting your counterpart? I know that Edmund has no counterpart in this world, and that Buffy's had died before she came to live here, but you did meet her. How did you handle it?"

"It is different for me and her... you see, we are not so different, the other Roxanne and I. At some moment we made the same choice, in different circumstances, but it was the same. Only I got a second chance and she didn't. It isn't the same as with Nicholas and you. You never made the choices he did."

'How do you know?"

"Nicky, don't tell me that you seriously think that you are alike."

"I saw too much of myself in him."

"Yes. But the difference is that he doe not worry and suffer about it. No, you are not perfect. You have done things to reproach yourself for. You know what they are, as well as I do. But you are not a warlock. You have not made the bargains he made. You have not lived life on his terms. He could have been you, if he had had the courage for it, but he did not. It is his loss, not yours."

"Maybe" Blair did not sound convinced at all.

"Let time heal it." Roxanne reassured him. "Soon this will only be a bad memory."

Blair nodded.

"And with all this going on, you never told me how things are going back home."

* * *

Frances had been given a heroine's welcome at her return, and she felt it was deserved. It was thanks to her efforts, and Edmund's, and Barnabas', and Roxanne's (the other Roxanne) and Amy's that the crisis had been solved with no casualties. What she could do, she had done, and she felt entitled to enjoy it.

What she did not enjoy was telling George of what happened to Barnabas, and how little hope there was for him outside the labyrinth.

"He needs me." George said, and looked pale.

Frances recalled that once George had said that if Barnabas ever needed killing, he would take care of it...

And now he might have to make good on it.

She knew, as well as he, that Barnabas would rather die than be immobilized... It was too much those long years chained in the coffin.. He could not endure it again..

"There might be something that we can do." George muttered. "Some answer to it."

* * *

"Poor George" Barnabas said. :"He is going to lose me and he will not accept it easily. I wish that I could spare him the pain of it."

"It can't be. But he will heal... but you can remain here in the labyrinth. Here you are not wounded, thanks to that silver needle."

"Yes. But I need to serve as bait for Burke. You said it yourself. We need to take him down."

"Yes. But..."

"And I know that this will be my latest battle."

"It will be painful for you, and those you care for."

"I understand. But it is my battle and I will fight it."


End file.
